Too Much on Our Plait

Honestly, I don't even know what to say.  As you probably read in my mother's post from yesterday, my uncle Richard passed away yesterday morning from complications post-treatment for AML.  My mother said pretty much everything there was to say, but I think there's a little more. Uncle Richard, I have one more story for you. Uncle Richard was a funny man. He was downright weird at times, but the best kind of weird there is. He was never seen without a smile. Uncle Richard had this way about him - even in his lovely tennis shorts in December (mind you, we're in Baltimore) - to brighten the room around him.  I'll never forget the smell of his pipe (I hate smoking, but his pipe always smelled so good), the smile on his face, and the songs he used to sing, again in those tennis shorts. He would just break out into song. When us cousins were kids, we were always captivated by his humor. The one song that immediately comes to mind is, "The Littlest Worm....

Cancer has struck  our family again…in a big way.   One week after the burial of my mother on February 23, 2016 for non-cancer related issues, my brother-in-law, Richard, was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia).   Since March 6 th , he had been an inpatient at University of Maryland Hospital.   As our family typically does, we all came together to support my sister, Anna Marie.   We made daily trips to the hospital.   Most of the time we were full of hope, but eventually we felt more like wounded soldiers marching into a losing battle.   Richard suffered one unfortunate circumstance after another with both happy and sad outcomes.   The happy outcome is that the first round of chemo was successful in eradicating his leukemia cells.   The sad news is that all too often the same drugs that cure you can also, indirectly, kill you.   As a result of Richard’s extremely depleted blood cells and extremely compromised immune system f...

Today's post comes after a lot of thinking. I haven't gotten my blood work results back, but I have a completely different issue to talk about. All my life, I have struggled with my weight. I think it started when I was about 10. I was always overweight from that point on, and it was hard for me. It was the typical story - I saw other girls I wanted to look like, and tried so hard to look like them. I had a very different body type, and that was another setback. I have done countless programs - Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, my own diet plans - and yet I always ended up gaining it back if I strayed. They worked, don't get me wrong. It was just very hard to maintain. From about late 2010 to mid-2011, I was following my own plan. I was monitoring my calories, eating well, exercising almost daily, and making sure I was constantly moving. My job at the time was not as demanding as the one I have now, but I worked hard despite feeling tired after a long day. I felt so much be...

Good evening, my friends. I figured it was about time I posted about my current situation with my cancer follow-ups. I have been seeing my endocrinologist every 6 months since my second surgery, which was November 2007. Up until about four years ago, my thyroid levels have shown little to no cancer evident. Four years ago, my numbers began to creep up. I went from below 0.5 to 1.9, to ~3, to 4.3, to 4.5. I just had blood work done yesterday, so I don't know my levels just yet. I'll update again with those along with the next steps that my endocrinologist wants to take. My endocrinologist is amazing. Dr. H is straightforward and very proactive with my treatment. She has helped me become more independent and to take control of my treatment. She welcomes questions and answers them. I really appreciate her and all she has done for me throughout my cancer journey. She told me she's ambivalent about biopsying and "cherry-picking," as she calls it. What she calls ...

I can't believe this will be our 50th blog post! This is really exciting. What a great way to begin this entry. Today's post is about quality of life for survivors and those who are affected by cancer in any way -- family, friends, caregivers. It is extremely important to be healthy, happy, and surrounded by those who love you and care for you. It is also important to be surrounded by those who understand what it is that you are going through. When I was at the beginning of my cancer journey, I felt like I was the only one. I knew no one else who had thyroid cancer. It was 2006, and I had no one to turn to but friends and family who could sympathize, but not empathize. This is a big deal for anyone with an illness, especially a chronic or long-term illness. It can be very hard to cope when people listen to you, but can really only give words of encouragement or affection (which is also crucial). My sister, however, had gone through cancer about a decade or so prior to m...

Hi! It's hard to believe it has been almost four years since my last post. A lot of things have changed. The blog may have halted, but life just kept on rolling!   Since the last post, I have gotten married and been very busy with my career. I took a hiatus from the cancer world (not completely, but I became inactive) for what seemed like a decade. Last month, my husband, Jason, and I attended CancerCon in Denver. The conference is hosted by Stupid Cancer , and is what the organization has been building up to since its inception in 2007. The OMG! Cancer Summit was the "main" conference in New York, and that is actually where I attended my first OMG! Summit in 2010. At the 2011 conference, I met my husband, a brain cancer survivor, and we began dating soon after. We got married last April, and are very happy (one would hope, right?).   The hiatus Jason and I took from Stupid Cancer was extremely hard, especially for me. I always felt like myself with the peop...